About
Hotline Miami is a 2D action video game featuring a top-down perspective and pixel art graphics, created by Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin of Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital. The game is known for its fast-paced and violent gameplay, as well as its retro 1980s aesthetic and synthpop soundtrack.
History
In October 2012, Hotline Miami was released, in which the player assumes the role of an unnamed assassin who clears stages by killing enemies with a variety of weapons. Prior to each stage, the player can select an animal mask which provides different bonuses and handicaps. On March 10th, 2015, the sequel Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number was released, which featured a new “hard mode” setting, additional animal masks and a total of 13 playable characters.
Online Presence
On October 22nd, 2012, the /r/hotlinemiami[3] subreddit was launched for discussions about the video game. On November 17th, YouTuber SoundtrackVideoGame uploaded the entire soundtrack from Hotline Miami, gathering upwards of 3.2 million views and 5,800 comments in the next three years (shown below, left). On June 13th, 2013, the Rooster Teeth YouTube channel uploaded a video featuring gameplay footage of Hotline Miami (shown below, right). In the next two years, the video accumulated more than 1.1 million views and 2,900 comments.
On May 29th, 2014, YouTuber Markiplier uploaded footage of himself playing Hotline Miami (shown below, left). On March 14th, 2015, YouTuber jacksepticeye uploaded a video in which he plays Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (shown below, right). In the first two weeks, the video gained over 1.1 million views and 4,800 comments.
Reception
As of March 2015 on Metacritic,[1]Hotline Miami has received a score of 85 and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number has gained a score of 76.
Related Memes
Gotta Get a Grip
In the final level of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, the character The Son takes an unknown substance and begins experiencing a psychedelic trip. After clearing part of the level, he hallucinates several men in white suits dying at a table and tells himself “Gotta get a grip” before being sucked into his own mouth (shown below).
On March 15th, YouTuber Snipey McQuickscopes uploaded an edited clip from the The Room with the Hotline Miami 2 player on to the face of Tommy Wiseau (shown below). On the following day, the /r/gottagetagrip[2] subreddit was launched.